Patient Education Resources: Bricks and Clicks

Ruti Volk, Librarian

Patient Education Resource Center

University of Michigan

Comprehensive Cancer Center

Patient Education

A planned activity initiated by a health professional whose aim is to impact knowledge, attitudes and skills with the specific goal of changing behavior, increasing compliance with therapy and thereby improving health.

“The Provision of Consumer Health Information” Medical Library Association 1996.

Consumer Health Information

Information designed to help individuals understand their health and make health related decisions for themselves and their families.

(Healthy People 2010 project)

Question

What qualities are you looking for in a patient-education or consumer- health material?

Why is it important to evaluate health information obtained from the Internet?

Publishing on the Internet is cheap and easy

No quality control

Open to all

On the Internet it is more difficult to

distinguish between advertising and editorial

content

Guidelines for evaluating Internet health information

Identity

Advertising and Sponsorship

Accuracy and Currency

Identity of the information provider:

• Check URL (web address)

• .edu – university or a learning institution

• .gov – government agency

• .com – commercial company

• .org – non-profit organization

Identity of the information provider:

• Read the “About Us” or “Who Are We?” section of the site.

• Look for a physical location and contact information.

Advertising and Sponsorship

Is the advertising on the site clearly

distinguished from news and information?

Does the site identify its sponsors and post

sponsorship policies?

• Does the information provider disclose

relevant business relationships with the site

sponsors?

Consider the following issues:

Accuracy & Currency

How dated is the information?

Check the date information was revised.

Check for references dates.

Accuracy & Currency

Is the information based on scientific

data? Look for references to peer-reviewed

scientific journals, not newspapers or

magazines.

Accuracy & Currency

Is the information based on a personal opinion or

a testimonial? Personal stories or testimonials are not proven

science.

Beware of emotional tone and promises that sound

too good to be true: Revolutionary innovation Eliminates problem in days! Healthy, simple and natural-way to

help you…

What is HON?

HON Guidelines

• Authority• Complementary• Confidentiality• Attribution• Justifiability• Transparency of authorship• Transparency of sponsorship• Honesty in advertising and editorial policy

We subscribe to the HONcode principles

Verify Here

NOT a guarantee

• Websites apply to registered with the program

• By applying content providers certify that they

commit themselves strictly to observe all the

HONcode principles

• Applications are evaluated before they are

accepted to the program

NOT a guarantee

• Only approved websites can display the

“HONcode seal”

• A verification system helps users ensure that

the site was registered with HON

• HON reserves the right to conduct random

checks

Checked on 11/22/2005

Don’t count on it!

• Advise your patients to check identity and

credentials of Web information

• Recommend quality websites

• Educate you patients on evaluating health

information on the Internet.

• Refer patients and families to NLM (National

Library of Medicine) tutorial

Sharing information with clinicians

• Every patient is a unique case with a

different set of circumstances.

• Only a clinician can advise patients if

the information found applies to their

specific situation.

UMHS Resource Centershttp://www.med.umich.edu/pteducation/index.htm

• PERC - Patient Education Resource Center at the UMHS Comprehensive Cancer Center

• Health and Wellness Resource Center U-M Hospital

• HERC - Health Education Resource Center East Ann Arbor Health Center

• FDERC - FRIENDS Depression Education and Resource Center

• Turner Senior Resource Center

• WHRC - Women's Health Resource Center